Research and Planning: My First Podcast

This is my first blog of what i have done.

Research and Planning: Double Page Spread Analysis

By looking at this double page spread, I can tell that the genre of the magazine that it is from is an Indie magazine,  this is because of the artist featured in it, the colours used, as they are quite neutral colours except for the red stripes. These stand out in the photograph as the artist is wearing all black, with the rest of the page in black and grey. The artists hair also stands out as it very bright on the light background, this makes the artist the first thing that the audience are drawn to when reading this article.
The target audience that would be interested in the double page spread in this magazine would be both male and female as the artist is attractive, therefore would attract male readers, but as the artist is popular, females would be interested in reading about her. The colours are neutral apart from the red, although this does not indicate a certain sex for the audience.
This article represents women and pride, as the artist is woman and looks empowering to the reader, this shows that she is a strong artist and is successful. This is also another aspect that attracts men to the magazine, as they will find this attractive.
A long shot has been used in the photograph of the artist. This shows the whole of the artists pose, clothing and her shoes. The shoes are important on this shot are they show how strong the artist is by the height of the heels and the style of them. They show how powerful she is. The shot is also an eye level shot so the reader can connect with the artist and although it is not a low shot, the artists looks powerful enough without this.

Research And Planning: Audience Interviews.

Research and Planning: Questionnaire.

This is my questionnaire, the results i collected are in the post to below.

Research and Planning: Questionnaire Results

Research and Planning: Contents Page Analysis

• Genre: The genre of this magazine is Indie/Rock. This is shown by the colours as they are quite strong but quite simple. Also, the people in the photos are alternative; they look quite messy and scruffy, but also attractive as this is a style that is quite popular. Also, they layout is quite simple and doesn't have any decorations, just photos and text.
• Target Audience: The target audience for this magazine would probably be males due to the colours and people featured in the photos, however, girls would also be interested if they are interested in they style. The age range would probably be around 18/19 as it features gigs and festivals and a lot of people that age are interested in that.
• Layout: The layout of the contents page is quite simple but also effective. Everything is quite square and nothing is overlapping so everything is seen and the layout does not like anything out of a pop or R'n'B magazine as everything is straight forward. The fonts are quite small but readable but the pictures are quite big as they are an important aspect so the reader can see what is going on in the magazine. There is not that much information on each article, just a brief description so the reader wants to find out more information about the article. The simple layout is easy to read and follow as it is all in lines.
• Representation: The main photo on the contents page looks quite violent which could represent some rock music and the style of clothes that people wear, it also represents the film 'Shaun of The Dead'. Some of the other photos show artists performing live with no shirts on, this represents the freedom of the music and the lives of the artists and they do what they want. The dark clothes that some of the artists are wearing in the photos represents the indie/rock style as dark colours are usually worn by rock artists.
• Media Language: The main picture on the contents page is a medium shot, this shows all three people in the picture and the tree branches behind them to show the place that they are in. Most of the pictures are eye level shots so the reader can feel connected, but the main one is slightly low level to make the band look powerful to the reader, as the main person is holding a cricket bat, he looks intimidating and the shot helps this.

Research and Planning: Contents and Cover Drafts

Research and Planning: My Target Audience

A typical reader in my target audience for my magazine would be about 17/18 and it would be aimed at both make and female. This would be due to the people featured on the cover, as most indie/rock magazines often don't use women on their covers, so this would attract males due to the alternative music and the woman on the cover. It would attract females because of the type of music that the magazine features, but also the woman on the front cover as they can connect with them.

The people in my target audience would be college students as it is aimed at people that would be the right age to be in college. My magazine would be priced reasonably as college students don't always have money, so it would be a price that they could afford.

My audience would be of working-middle class people due to the price, the fact that they are in college and are going somewhere and hoping to do well in life.
My audience would maybe have a part time job on the side as well as college, so they would be able to afford a magazine, but some students may not have  job therefore do not have much money so the magazine would have to be priced reasonably at a price that they can afford, as there are not that many magazines in this genre so it may be popular.

My target audience would be interested in indie/rock music and would maybe enjoy attending festivals and concerts/gigs, this is why i will include the dates for these events in my magazine. They may follow musicians and be interested in their lives as well as music so i will include interviews and articles focusing on this.

My target audience would aspire to get somewhere in the future, due to their effort in alternate style, therefore would put effort into what they want to do. They obviously want to get somewhere due to that fact that they attend college. By taking an interest in magazines, this helps knowledge and by having something to take an interest in shows that they are committed to what they do and are willing to out effort in.

I will reach these goals for my target audience by using the correct colours, people on the cover, include the right articles and price my magazine that i would think acceptable and that i would pay for. I would use photos of artists/bands performing live as this is an interest of my target audience. The people in it would be of an alternative style to attract the audience as this is the style they would interested in. I will probably price my magazine at around £2, i think this is reasonable for a college student. The colours would be appropriate for both genders to attract people, and the photos would be acceptable so either gender is not put off because of the photos featured.



This is what a typical person in my target audience would look like.

Research and Planning: Music Magazine Masthead.

Research and Planning: Music magazine analysis

The genre of this magazine is indie/rock, you can see this by the colours; black, red and white, the bold, block fonts and the type of stories on the cover. The bold, capital fonts show that the music is loud and is noticed, the colours show the unisex audience of the magazine and the stories represent the type of music that the magazine writes about. The photograph is not revealing or sexual, which is what is usually on a pop or R'n'B magazine, but in this magazine, it is not about sex appeal, it is about music and the artists rather than their controversial image.
On this magazine, women are highly represented, I have chosen to analyse a magazine with a woman on the front because it is usually a man on the cover, but I will use a woman on the cover of my magazine to represent women and their music. The celebrity on the cover seems to be wearing normal clothes, but as it is a medium close up shot, the clothes aren't really seen. her hair is being blown backwards, which is quite effective as she looks more glamorous but also mysterious. Her pose is quite mysterious and her eyes draw attention to the reader straight away, this is effective as it draws the reader in.
The audience of this magazine is unisex, as men are usually featured and occasionally women, women will buy the magazine for the male artists, but the female artists too for their music, and the men enjoy the male artists music but then will buy the magazine for the female artists too. The colours show the target audience as there are no colours like pink or blue to indicate a certain sex.
The shot type being used is a medium close up to show the singers face and expressions. The photo is quite simple as it does not include anything else in it, just the celebrity, this is effective as it draws attention to her and makes her noticeable.

Research and Planning: Music magazine analysis

This magazine does not follow the usual codes and conventions of a magazine, as instead of using a medium close up shot for the picture, they have used a long shot although this shot is effective as it shows the celebrity in action.
The genre of this magazine would be classed as indie/rock which is what my magazine will be based on. This is shown by the celebrity on the front and the type of music they make, but it is also shown by the colours; red and white on the mostly dark background make the colours look vibrant but not girly, they look loud which represents rock music. The photograph shows the genre of the magazine by the person on it and also the way that the celebrity is in action so it looks as if she is not posing for the photo which is common on the covers of rock magazines as they are not really about the glamour, more about the music. The fonts on the magazine and all capitals and block letters to make them stand out and readable. they're also mostly quite large fonts to make them look loud. The text if quite short and snappy so when you read it, it seems as if it's shouting at you to grab your attention. The sell lines are interesting '25 BEST ROCK STARS OF THE DECADE' this is interesting as it catches the attention because it's in white at the top of the screen and it is something that the audience would want to read about.
The audience for this magazine is from teens to people in their 30's and is mostly males due to the people featured on the covers, which are usually males but the type of music that they make is liked by a large male audience. Although this magazine features a woman on the cover which is quite rare to find this. This  would make the magazine appeal to men if there is a woman on the cover.The colours show that it is for a more rocky audience as they are vibrant and bold rather than soft colours. The clothing that the celebrity is wearing is quite dark which represents the type of music she makes.
On the cover, women are being represented, as women aren't usually on the cover of this magazine it is showing women are becoming more independent. As she is wearing a selection of clothes that are different to what women would usually wear normally, she is showing confidence. Her pose also shows confidence and sex appeal.
The shot type used is a long shot to show all of the celebrity to show what she is wearing and what she is doing. The shot shows her getting out of a taxi, which is obviously framed as you would not see a celebrity in a taxi as they would use a limousine or another form of transport. They have tried to make the photo not look framed as that is the style that they usually use.